Originally published at: The Orville season 3 teaser | Boing Boing
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Yoink!!!
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The Orville is a better Star Trek series than than some actual Star Trek series, give or take a silly episode here or there. Some of the episode plots have been way better and more complex morally than you would expect for a parody.
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It helps that it has former Trek writers and producers. I can forgive them for blatantly recycling one of the better Voyager scripts for The Orville. (The one where they accidentally create a religion for a planet with major time jumps)
Picard ripped off Orville’s season finale
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One of my favorite things about “The Orville” is that I can imagine that the 21st century show actually exists in the show’s 25th-century universe.
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It’s a parody? Huh.
Anyway, I sure hope the new season has a serious recap of events thus far because it’s been several years since the last one and I find I’m not recalling a lot of details. I do remember liking it, and some rough highlights, but specifics are lacking.
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Yeah, I wouldn’t call it a parody, either. I’d say it has more in common tonally with a show like Buffy the Vampire Slayer - not a parody or a satire, but a show where humor is built-in and just naturally bubbles up.
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ive never been a fan of seth macfarlane, and so it took me a long time to watch orville. i was definitely happy i did.
it’s a good show, and i think just even having the option of humor gives the show some room to breathe. yeah, we got some in star trek - worf and quark come to mind - but mostly it tried to take itself too seriously
orville reminds a lot of dr who. a space romp with some darker more serious elements mixed in
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I would call it an homage to Star Trek, with some Seth MacFarlane humor thrown in. I would not call it a parody. MacFarlane is clearly quite fond of Star Trek.
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Parody doesn’t have to be mean spirited. I’d say it is parody, while simultaneously trying to live up to what made Star Trek, or TNG specifically, the great show it was. It’s actually a lot like Lower Decks in that regard, the only difference being that that one is not parody by definition, since it’s canon
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Im my headcanon, the plethora of current references are because first contact between humans and aliens of The Union happened in the mid 21st century.
So that stuff was the last uniquely human made culture.
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But The Orville isn’t parody. It started as a passion project by a guy with clout, a sort Star Trek fan fiction set in an alternate universe–a love letter of sorts by a comedian.
And that “comedian’s love letter” thing really shows in the first five episodes, which are more “Family Guy”-ish in its humor.
But then something strange happened. The Orville became some of the best Star Trek out there–philosophically grounded, thoughtful, and solidly established in human relationships which Star Trek never really ironed out in all the decades it and its variations have been on the air.
And the second season really reflects this, by showing the consequences of these human connections with future episodes. For example, the rather light and somewhat silly “A Happy Refrain” manages to solve the conundrum of “what does love mean to a being like Data”–but that resolution becomes an integral part of the two part “Identity”. And the typical time travel paradox episode that every science fiction and fantasy show eventually does, “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” ends with a rather shocking twist which leads us to “The Road Not Taken,” which again examines the consequences of how human relations evolve on the very shape of the galaxy.
I mean, this is not “The Expanse” by any measure. But in his love letter to Star Trek Seth MacFarlane managed to outdo Star Trek, and outdo its optimism (with, for example, “Mad Idolatry”), outdo its commentary on society (with, for example, “Majority Rule”), and generally handle human relationships far better with dialog that seems less stilted and more natural.
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I think the Orville is some of the best Trek ever. It may not live in the universe, techincailly, but overall embodies the spirit of the original series. I am looking forward to it!
PS - Nice to hear Discovery got better after the 1st season. I was turned off enough to not wander back, but maybe will now.
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Came here to write this. It really tells you a lot about the current state of Star Trek when a Star Trek parody out-startreks the actual Star Trek shows.
Re: parody or homage: I watched maybe a couple of the first episodes when it came out, and was baffled by it’s neither-fish-nor-fowl-ness. I guess others find that to be a strength, but if it does get good maybe it’s worth another shot.
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I had the same reaction as you early on. But then it indeed found its footing - and quickly at that. In its current state it’s soooo much better than NuTrek. (NuTrek represents such a low bar that I should point out that I’m not damning with faint praise here - The Orville really does scratch the itch that NuTrek can’t.)
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‘Pastiche’ is the word for a Parody that is more respectful than derisive.
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i found the first season basically unwatchable. i skipped ahead and wasn’t disappointed. it’s not the best trek, it’s also not the worst trek. a nice solid middle
my favorite episodes are the more self contained ones. every show - including it and orville - has to have an overarching end of the world thing going. so unnecessary imo
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The last and current seasons of Disco have been a vast improvement. The show dropped its narrative killing prequel setting for a far flung future one. Doug Jones’s Saru is the show’s secret strength.
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